1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an authentication apparatus and method that implement a service performed such that a specific device present at a physical location is bound with a cloud service on the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most existing services have been chiefly implemented in an environment in which a single user terminal accesses a single Internet service and uses the service in a client-server configuration. However, with the advancement of cloud services and the Internet of Things (IoT) and the development of various service devices such as a three-dimensional (3D) printer, there is required technology that enables various devices to be used in conjunction with a cloud server connected to the Internet using mobile user terminals such as smart phones, without spatial restrictions.
For example, there are presented methods for authenticating a smart phone-3D printer-function server configuration so that the downloading and modeling of content for performing 3D printing may be implemented using a function server (a cloud service server) and control commands may be issued using a mobile device such as a smart phone.
When 3D printing is performed using current technology, the following problems may arise.
First, 3D printing is a task that requires a procedure for downloading content for 3D printing from a content server, performing modeling for 3D printing, and then performing actual 3D printing, and a user must stay near a 3D printer for a long period of time or must periodically visit the place where 3D printing is performed.
Next, a problem that may occur during the performance of 3D printing (e.g. exceptional situations such as the exhaustion of raw materials or the occurrence of mechanical defects in printing) cannot be recognized when the user is not present in the corresponding place.
Further, when a 3D printer is controlled using a smart phone, the downloading of content and the control of the 3D printer must be performed via the smart phone, meaning that the downloading and modeling of large-capacity 3D content must be processed, thus resulting in high wireless network communication expenses and limiting the scale of 3D printing due to the functionality of the smart phone.
Therefore, a kind of service is required in which control is performed via a smart phone and which is provided such that a cloud server and a 3D printer are operated in conjunction with each other. For this service, a method for performing three-way authentication for a smart phone-3D printer-cloud server configuration is required.
From the standpoint of standards, a Generic Open Terminal Application Program Interface (GotAPI) of Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and Device Web API (DWAPI) standards have been developed, but technology related to such a three-way authentication method has not been clearly presented.